Reminiscence
by MedliR
Summary: Yuffie comes home to Edge after being away for a while, and starts to reminisce about certain significant events in her life. A Reefie fic - Reeve/Yuffie .
1. Chapter 1

Reminiscence

A/N: Well, I guess you could call this my entry to the Reefie challenge over on the Viva La Reefie forums. I guess.

This story was inspired by reading a lot of fics involving the pairing, some good-natured convincing my Leonora Thalberg and Marilena, and the song The More Boys I Meet, by Carrie Underwood.

Disclaimer: I neither own FFVII or the song mentioned in the sentence above. Thank you.

All this being said, thanks for reading!

* * *

"Reeve?" Yuffie stuck her head inside the office and, realizing the lights were off, shrugged, flicked them on, and walked in, closing the door behind her. "Guess not. Oh well."

Yuffie sighed in relief as she walked over to Reeve's desk. She had just spent three weeks with her father in Wutai, not entirely thrilling weeks, but, apparently necessary ones, and she was drained, tired, and more than happy to finally be home. Wutai just didn't hold the same attraction for her that it used to in terms of home. She was still the White Rose of Wutai, but home had become wherever Reeve was, and for now and a long time in the foreseeable future, he was in Edge.

Tossing herself down in Reeve's chair, Yuffie was about to put her feet up when she noticed a neatly folded piece of paper adorned with the characters that made up her name in Wutaian smack in the middle of Reeve's desk calendar. Yuffie reached for the paper, smiling fondly as she recognized Reeve's practiced hand. Her name was the only thing he could write flawlessly, and he used it whenever he had a private message for her. Yuffie turned the paper over and slit the tape holding it closed with a green fingernail.

_My dearest Yuffie,_

_I wanted to be here to greet you upon your return, but Rufus called a meeting this morning. I truly think he does it just to spite us. I decided against calling you and waking you at an ungodly hour to let you know. I knew you would come here first, and the characters have never failed to catch your attention. _

_It is so good to know you are home. But you must promise me one thing. If I am not back by four, please, please, either call Shinra or come over and rescue me. There is only so much of Rufus Shinra and those damnable Turks I can take, no matter how much I love them all._

_Don't worry about dinner. I have something planned. It's good to have you home, Yuffie._

_I love you._

_Reeve_

Yuffie's smile turned into a grin. She checked her watch. Two o'clock.

"Hm. Two more hours till I can rescue Reeve. Geez. A meeting all day. Rufus is nuts. Absolutely wacko. I think he needs a woman." Yuffie chuckled outright at that idea. She'd have to enlist Reeve's help on that one. And maybe Elena's. And Tifa's. Whenever Rufus called a meeting with Reeve, he included the Turks and Cloud.

Leaning back in Reeve's chair, Yuffie put her feet up on the desk as she had originally intended to do. Fully intent on planning out how to set Rufus up on several blind dates, most of them horrendous, Yuffie ended up distracted by a photograph on Reeve's desk.

"Huh. Now when did you get there?" Yuffie asked the picture, stretching as far as she could without taking her feet off the desk and managing to snag a corner of the photo frame.

It was a picture Yuffie hadn't seen in years. It was of herself and Reeve, his arm around her and her head on his shoulder, caught candidly outside of the WRO building by Elena. She had been attempting to catch Tseng relaxing on film. It hadn't worked, but she had caught Reeve and Yuffie instead. She'd gifted them with the picture the next day, and Yuffie had thought it was still in the album at home.

Yuffie smiled down at the picture before resting it in her lap and tipping her head back. The photo brought back some fond memories. It had been taken the day after their first date. It was funny actually, what had led up to it. It was all, indirectly, she supposed, Vincent's fault.

--------------------------

"Perhaps we could discuss the matter further at dinner, Yuffie?"

"Sounds great, Vince. Actually, though, I've got a batch of tonjiru and some oden on the stove right now and they'll be ready by dinnertime. We could just eat here." Yuffie said, slightly distracted by the progress of the oden.

"Very well, Yuffie. I shall see you at six o'clock?"

"Perfect. See you then."

"You shall."

The line clicked dead, and Yuffie put the phone down for a while, stirring the tonjiru and eyeing the oden to make sure nothing burnt when a stray thought suddenly occurred to her.

"Oh, sweet, holy Leviathan. Is this a date?"

Yuffie's eyes got big and she began to panic. She had no idea what Vincent meant. It sounded like a date, but Yuffie had been known to be wrong before. Tifa! Tifa would know. Trying very hard not to completely panic and hyperventilate, after all, she had been trying to get the gunman to agree to a date for the past year, Yuffie grabbed for the phone and called Tifa.

"Hello?"

"Tifa! Oh my gods, you have to listen to me and you have to help me! I'm panicking over here!" Yuffie all but shouted into the phone, still stirring the tonjiru. She may have been panicking, but she loved tonjiru, and she would be damned if she ruined it.

"Yuffie? What's happened now? What materia are you after now?" Tifa asked, her voice coming out slightly tinny over the connection.

Yuffie straightened indignantly. "Hey! I'll have you know that I have considerably toned down on my materia-stealing ways ever since Deepground, and you've seen that for yourself! I'll thank you to remember it!" It was true; over the past year, Yuffie had focused more on materia she could acquire legally. She _was_ a prominent member of the WRO, after all.

Tifa laughed at Yuffie's obviously affected self-righteous tone. "Okay, okay, you're right. I'm sorry. What's wrong."

"I think Vincent asked me out."

Over the next half an hour, Yuffie related the conversation between herself and Vincent, word for word, to Tifa, and also to Elena, who was at the bar looking for Reno and Rude, who had "forgotten" their phones at the office. Both women agreed with Yuffie's interpretation: Vincent had asked Yuffie out on a date.

Yuffie began to panic again. "What am I going to wear?! Oh, it's a good thing I told Reeve I'd see that new thing of his tomorrow and not tonight. What do I wear? What do I say? How do I act? What was I thinking, asking him over here on a first date? What am I going to do???"

It took Tifa and Elena another half hour to calm Yuffie down and decide on an outfit and a plan of attack, so to speak.

It was a quarter to six. Yuffie took a deep breath and smoothed the front of her dress. She had picked up the little black number a year and a half ago and never worn it. There was probably no better time than now. Yuffie glanced at the table, checking it over for the fifth time. Two place settings, candles, unlit though, she didn't want to give the wrong message, and dinner done and smelling wonderful. It had taken all of her self control not to eat some of it early.

Yuffie fidgeted around, checking her hair, makeup, and dress several times over the next fifteen minutes, until the doorbell rang precisely at six o'clock. Taking a final deep breath, Yuffie pasted a glowing yet demure smile on her face and went to open the door.

"Vincent! Hello, come..." Yuffie's voice trailed off as she realized it was not Vincent at her door. It was Vincent and someone else.

"Good evening, Yuffie Kisaragi." Shelke.

Yuffie stared, dumbstruck, first at Vincent, then at Shelke, and then back at Vincent. The gunman's face betrayed nothing signifying anything to suggest that this was an unusual or unexpected circumstance. Yuffie slammed the door in their faces and locked it.

She stood there for a few minutes, still trying to process what had just happened, until the knocking started. Calmly, she walked over to the phone and called Tifa.

"Hello?" Not Tifa. Cloud. Great.

"Cloud, can you put Tifa on? I need to ask her something."

"Sure, Yuffie, hold on a sec." The line sounded with static as Cloud handed over the phone.

"Yuffie? It's six. Aren't you supposed to be having dinner with Vincent right now?" Tifa asked, mild concern coming over in her voice.

"Are you sure this is a date?" Yuffie asked levelly.

"Yes, I'm sure. I even told Cloud about it and he agrees with us. Why? Just relax."

"He brought Shelke. I closed the door in their faces."

"HE WHAT?!"

Ten minutes later, the food was put away safely in the refrigerator, the dress was replaced with the usual outfit, Vincent and Shelke were still at the door alternately knocking and calling her on the phone, and Yuffie was out her bathroom window and on the way to visit Reeve. She was too irritated and shocked to accept the sympathy she was sure she'd find at Tifa's, and she felt that work was the best thing to get her mind off of the giant mistake that had just happened.

Yuffie decided to knock on Reeve's office door rather than just barge on in as she usually did. After all, she had told him she would see him in the morning. Once she got a response, she opened the door and went in.

"Hey, Reeve."

The man addressed looked up from the pile of papers he was reading. "Yuffie! I thought you said you would be by tomorrow. Not that I'm not entirely thrilled to see you tonight, though," Reeve said, giving her a slightly rakish grin as he did so.

"Yeah, I know. Change in plans," Yuffie said, flipping a chair around backwards and sitting in it.

Reeve frowned slightly. "Is something wrong, Yuffie? You seem rather quiet."

"Nothing major. No big deal." _Yeah right._ "What did you want to show me?"

"Ah!" Reeve stood up and rubbed his hands together. "I think I have an answer to that little problem you and I were talking about last week."

Now it was Yuffie's turn to frown. "What problem?"

"The one where you keep getting into dangerous situations and still consistently refuse to take Cait Sith with you," Reeve said mildly, as if they had not had a tremendous argument over the situation five days ago.

Yuffie rolled her eyes and slumped down in her seat. This was an argument she was just not in the mood to rehash right now. "Reeve..." she said to the man as he calmly made his way to the bank of computers and counters on the far wall of his office.

"Now, Yuffie, I think you won't mind this," Reeve told her, flashing her a smile over one shoulder.

_Sure I won't._

The whole argument in question had started when Yuffie returned roughly a week ago from her latest mission, injured and in the company of Cloud, Tseng, and Elena, who had been sent to find her when she didn't come back on time. It was the fourth straight mission that had ended with Yuffie in trouble and unable to contact help, and through no fault of her own. She was Reeve's best spy, and that meant the dangerous missions. They'd just been a bit more dangerous lately.

Reeve had allowed her a day to recover, and then called her into his office and informed her that Cait would be accompanying her on her next mission later the next week. Yuffie had refused. Reeve had insisted. An argument had ensued. Yuffie, frustrated with Reeve's unbending mindset on the matter, had told him that she didn't trust Cait Sith, especially after the incident in the bathhouse in Wutai. Reeve had taken the insult against Cait as an insult against himself and the argument got worse, until Cid, in the offices for a drop-off of supplies, had opened the door and chucked in a large rock, wrapped in a note that told them, rather inelegantly, but normally for Cid, to shut up and quit the yelling.

While Reeve reread the note, Yuffie had taken the opportunity to leave the room and cool off. Reeve came looking for her shortly afterwards, ready with an apology, but she had told him that she was sorry, that she did trust Cait, and him, but that she still wouldn't take the robot. Yuffie's main reservation was actually a fairly sound one, from a security standpoint. On all of her missions, Yuffie was undercover. Cait Sith, however, was notoriously recognizable, and would either end up getting her nowhere or into an even more dangerous situation. Reeve had considered this for a moment, and then agreed, and told Yuffie to go home and rest.

Now, it seemed that he was starting up the whole argument again. Cait Sith was sitting on the counter.

Yuffie heaved a sigh and tried again. "Reeve. Do you not remember the shouting match? Cid's rock? My security reasons for not taking Cait? I thought we were done with this."

Reeve smiled at her and leaned back slightly on the counter. "We _are_ done with it, Yuffie. This is something new. Come here," he said, beckoning her over with the crook of a finger.

Yuffie rolled her eyes again and slowly dragged herself across the room to Reeve. _He's probably come up with something just as flashy, just as annoying, just as spy-capable_. Yuffie had lied to Reeve, after all. She really didn't trust the doll, especially not after Wutai.

"Here, Yuffie. What do you think? I thought that you could name him," Reeve said, opening a box and lifting out a small, still dog.

Yuffie was taken aback. The little dog was just big enough to look real, yet still fit into her pack comfortably, covered in a reddish-brown fur. It looked entirely nondescript, just like a real little mutt.

"The color of the fur can be changed, too, so he won't look the same unless you want him to. Same with the eyes." Reeve was practically bouncing on his heels, he was so excited, showing off his new toy.

"Wow," was all that Yuffie could come out with. "He's really, wow. He's so, normal." Her hands reached out and picked up the toy dog, petting him and turning him over to see how he was built. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Reeve's smile turn into a full-fledged grin.

Her hands suddenly stilled. "Does he work like Cait?"

Reeve's grin turned into a frown. "What do you mean? He does spy, but not like Cait. And he can't talk. And I can't control him unless you tap the inside of his ear, right here." Reeve took the dog from her and showed her the spot. She ran her fingers over it, knowing by now the feel of Reeve's secret buttons, and easily discovered the switch.

"So if that's off, he just acts like a normal dog?"

"Except that he's programmed to never leave your side, either next to you or in your pack, and he's equipped with a shielded locator beacon," Reeve told her, his eyes looking at her expectantly. "Do you like him? I tried to make something less conspicuous, easily dismissed as a normal pet, yet capable of telling us if you need help at the same time."

Yuffie took the dog back from him and settled him in her arms. "I love him," she said, smiling brightly at Reeve for the first time that evening. "How do you turn him on?"

Reeve laughed and showed her the other button, concealed underneath the dog's left eye. She pushed it and set the dog on the countertop as it powered up, letting it sniff her and examine her, storing her identity in its' database.

"Any ideas for a name yet, Yuffie?" Reeve asked her, absently petting the dog.

She grinned again, this time with a bit of an evil tinge to it. "Yeah - Reno."

Reeve laughed so hard the dog looked concerned.

Three days later, Reno proved his worth. Yuffie once again ran into a dangerous situation, got captured, and managed to turn on Reno's communication programs by pretending to finger the dog's ears out of nervousness. Cloud and the Turks showed up two hours later, and Yuffie got to come back to the WRO without a scratch. Yuffie, Reeve, and the Turks were thrilled. All except for Reno. The human Reno.

"Thanks a ton, Yuffs. Every time you call that thing, I turn around. And now everybody laughs whenever they call _me._ Rufus even finds this funny. Thanks _loads_."

Yuffie had only laughed and patted both Renos on their heads.

Later that night, Yuffie lay on her bed with Reno the dog, petting him and holding a one-sided conversation with the little robot. The conversation had started with his namesake, moved on to how easy the mission had been with him, and then, spitefully, on to Vincent, who Yuffie hadn't seen since the date disaster.

"I can't believe him. I mean, how else did he expect me to take it? And don't get me started on Shelke. Shelke! I mean, sure, the girl's started growing, but it's Shelke! She has no personality, and he did not mention her _at all_ over the phone. If he'd mentioned her in any fashion, I wouldn't have minded as much. I mean, geez. What do you think, Reno?"

Reno barked.

"Yeah, I guess. You know what Elena and Tifa told me? They told me that I should just go out on a date. With somebody. Anybody. They invited me out tomorrow night to go for drinks. Tifa's closing for the night, and there's a new bar in town and she wants to check it out. She said we could pick up guys. Well, obviously not Elena, since she's with Tseng - about darn time, too - but Tifa said she'd go 'shopping' with me. Make Cloud a little jealous. She said he's pissing her off lately. What do you think, Reno? Should I go?" Yuffie asked the dog, looking at it, currently curled up beside her, his head under her hand.

Reno looked at her for a few seconds and then barked again. Yuffie laughed. Reeve had told her that Reno had some minor AI software, allowing him to analyze situations, and she would swear blue she had just seen him use it.

"You know what, Reno? I think you're right. Let me call Tifa. I'll have to turn you off, though. You have to stay home and Reeve says you'll follow me everywhere if you're on," Yuffie said, reaching for the phone on her nightstand. Reno looked at her mournfully. Yuffie laughed again. This time, she would swear that he knew exactly what she had told him she'd do.

The girls' night out was a tremendous success. Tifa had pronounced the bar a dump, Elena had slugged out a guy for touching her butt, and Yuffie had gotten a date.

Which did not go well. The guy was a complete sleaze ball. It was fortunate that the date was at Tifa's, where all of her friends were hanging out and could toss the loser out on the street for her in case she managed to miss with her shuriken. She didn't. _That_ netted her another date.

Which went well for a week and a half. The guy's penchant for cage fighting showed up then, when she'd tried to go to the movies with him and he'd ditched her for one. Yuffie ended up going out with the ticket taker at the movies.

Over the next three months, Yuffie's personal motto swung back and forth between "The more boys I meet, the more I love my dog," coined with her head down on Tifa's counter and Reno in her lap, yipping, after a particularly bad date with a guy who thought yellow paisley and orange stripes went together (apparently the brown and yellow attire he'd had on when they met was a work uniform of sorts), and "I'll give anyone a shot once," said when Reno (the human) had asked her out. He actually lasted two weeks. The next candidate based on that theory had lasted two hours. Yuffie just couldn't stand Rufus in that fashion.

"It's not like I'm not trying!" Yuffie said, throwing her hands up in the air one evening at Tifa's. "I've been through everybody who isn't a criminal or a sicko that I've run into that isn't completely ugly, I am not hung up on Vincent, and I swear that the more guys I meet, the more I just love Reno. My dog, Turk, my dog." Reno the human made an indignant noise of protest off in the corner where he was sitting with his fellow Turks having a round.

"You want to date Tseng?" Elena asked, shooting a glare across the table at the aforementioned Turk, whose eyebrows shot up to join the rest of his face in an impromptu expression of a fish. "I'll let you try him out for a while."

"Elena, all I meant was - "

Yuffie snorted, effectively cutting off Tseng's attempted excuse and apology for whatever he had done now. When Elena was PMSing, it was generally better for him to obey her every word, but he hadn't quite caught on to that yet.

"Thanks, Elena, but I'll let you keep him. I'll give anyone a shot once as long as they're not already involved, permission granted or not." Elena flashed her a smile, shrugged, and drained the last of her beer.

"What about me?"

Yuffie turned around at Reeve's voice, jumping slightly. "Geez, Reeve, I didn't even hear you come in. How long have you been standing there? And what do you mean what about you?"

Reeve grinned at her, leaning lazily against the bar. "I've been here since you tossed your hands in the air. And, since you'll give anyone a shot once, what about me? I mean, you've dated Reno, for Leviathan's sake-"

"Hey! What is it with you people tonight?"

"-and we do need to talk about modifying Reno's programming" - at this Reeve shot the glaring human a particularly nasty grin - "so why don't we just go out for lunch tomorrow and call it a date? I promise it will be only you and me, and I promise I won't wear anything that clashes."

Yuffie snickered. "Why not? As long as you promise to leave Cait Sith at the office," she said, grinning and shaking a finger in Reeve's direction. _He can't be any worse than some of these idiots I've dated._

Reeve's grin turned pleased and exuberant. "Wonderful! See you tomorrow, then, Yuffie, at the office?"

"Absolutely!" she said, sticking out her hand, intending to shake on it.

"Excellent, then. I must be getting back to work, though. Tomorrow at noon, Yuffie. Goodnight," Reeve said, and instead of shaking her hand, he surprised her entirely by bowing slightly and lifting her hand to his mouth to place a soft kiss on the back of it, keeping her eyes locked with his sparkling ones the whole time.

Yuffie still hadn't recovered her powers of speech by the time the door shut on him.

"Well Cait, I think that went well, don't you?"

Cait Sith just jumped into its' master's arms and laughed.

The next day, Reeve and Yuffie had lunch together, which turned into dinner, and then drinks at Tifa's. They had had lunch together the next day as well, which resulted in the picture Yuffie currently had resting in her lap. And the rest was really only ancient history.

-----------------

She was startled out of her reverie by a pair of hands on her shoulders and a light brush of lips across her cheek.

"I see you found the picture. I came across it in the album the other day and I thought it should be admired. Welcome home," Reeve said, leaning his head against hers and speaking into her ear.

"Hi," Yuffie said, a languorous smile stretching across her features as she tilted her head to look into her husband's eyes. "It's good to be home."

Reeve smiled at her and pulled back so he could brush her hair behind her ears. "What were you doing? I usually can't sneak up on you like that."

"Just thinking about what led up to this picture." Yuffie's eyes suddenly widened and she jumped. "Oh, crap! What time is it? Did I leave you to Rufus?"

Reeve laughed and stood, pulling Yuffie with him. "No, you didn't. It's only three. He grew a heart sometime after lunch. And speaking of food, why don't we go home? I planned to cook..."

Yuffie grinned brightly and started to drag Reeve towards the door. She loved it when he cooked. "Absolutely! I could definitely eat! Come on, what are you waiting for? Let's go!"


	2. Chapter 2

Reminiscence - That Time in the Bathhouse in Wutai

A/N: Chapter 2 of my Reefie fic. I'm not sure how this one's turned out. I don't think the flow's right, but, oh well. I wanted to get it up before you left, Paddy!

Let me know what you all think!

Disclaimer: I do not own FFVII. Square Enix does. I'm just playing around.

* * *

"Mmm, hon, do you mind if I take a bath before we eat? I just want to get all of this travel gunk off me. I think I stink. Do I stink?" Yuffie asked, stretching and turning around to walk backwards and look at her husband at the same time.

Reeve laughed and locked the front door behind him. "You do not stink, Yuffie. But you are more than welcome to bathe first. I do have to cook the meal, you know."

Yuffie snapped her fingers. "Right. Okay, then. I'll just run off and get cleaned. You have fun in the kitchen. Oh, it is so good to be home!" she sang, dancing off down he hallway to their bedroom.

Reeve shook his head fondly and had just kicked off his shoes when he heard Yuffie call him.

"Oh! Reeve!"

"What is it, Yuffie?"

"When I get out of here, remind me to tell you about my plans for Rufus' personal life!"

The bedroom door slammed shut before Reeve could reply, so he simply shrugged, chalked the whole thing up to Yuffie's obsession with other people's business, and headed off into the kitchen. Though he couldn't quite manage to wipe the interested smirk off his face.

Back in the bedroom, Yuffie was haphazardly tossing articles of clothing onto whatever surface happened to be in the way as she prepared to soak away several days of travel. She had just reached her bra when she heard a small voice screech.

"Wait, lassie! Let me leave first before ye strip completely!"

"Cait! Damn it! Get out, will you?" Yuffie told the small robot, arms hovering between covering her bra and her hips, trying to decide if she should be overly modest - Reeve's child had seen her in a bikini before, so her bra wasn't really anything new - or righteously indignant.

"I'm sorry, lassie! I didn't realize you were in here till your sock landed on my head. I was recharging. Here, I'll just go, all right?" Cait said, keeping his face firmly turned towards the floor. "Reeve in the kitchen, then?" he asked, opening the door and heading out.

"Yes, Cait, he is. Now let me shower. I'll be out in a minute," she said, closing the door behind him.

"Good to see you, though! Welcome home!" Cait sarcastically shouted at her through the door.

Yuffie grinned self-consciously. _Right!_ "Good to see you, too, Cait! Thanks!" she called back to him.

Laughing over the whole thing, Yuffie proceeded to resume divesting herself of clothing and headed into the bathroom, making her way straight to the bathtub and twisting the tap on, all the way to hot. The water in their apartment took forever to warm up, and she wanted all the hot water she could get.

Yuffie looked at herself critically in the mirror between giggles. "Well, I suppose I don't look all _that_ bad," she said, peering at herself and poking and pulling the skin on her face, trying to determine if she was getting wrinkles.

Yuffie walked back over to the tub and sat on the ledge, running her fingers over the many bottles of bubble bath she had. She pursed her lips as she thought and finally decided on a decidedly odd combination of roses and cake frosting. It was an odd scent, but Yuffie liked it.

Once she had deemed the water level in the tub to be high enough, Yuffie reached in to twist the knob off, inhaling deeply as the smell of her bath water filled the air. She remembered when she had first gotten the bubble bath mix. It had been at that time in the bathhouse in Wutai. Yuffie started laughing again. Combined with what had just happened with Cait, the whole situation was just too funny. The whole situation was so similar, and here she was finishing off the resemblance with this particular bubble bath.

Yuffie climbed in the tub and sank down in the water, remembering. That had been a good time. Irritating, but funny, and she hadn't known the true extent of the goings-on until she and Reeve had gotten engaged. Combining the tale from both perspectives had answered a lot of questions. Though she still didn't trust Cait entirely.

--

"TI-FA!"

The brunette jumped. "Gods, Yuffie! Scare me half to death, why don't you? What do you want?" Tifa asked the bouncing ninja.

"I want to go out. Come on, let's go. We can go to shopping and then to the bathhouse near the pagoda. It's sooooo relaxing! You'll love it!" Yuffie said, never ceasing her bouncing. "And we can bring Shera, and Elena, and I'm forgetting someone, aren't I? No. Shelke's not here, thank Leviathan. Come on, let's go!" Yuffie switched from bouncing to tugging relentlessly on Tifa's arm.

"Okay, okay! You go get Shera and Elena and I'll get my purse," Tifa said, finally relenting, though doing so with a grin. Yuffie had been talking about the bathhouse for days, and she had actually managed to get all of the ladies interested, and most of the men for that matter.

The entirety of Avalanche was vacationing in Wutai, along with Rufus Shinra and the Turks and Reeve. Yuffie had literally dragged him out of his office, claiming a forced vacation for his "health." Rufus was initially present only on business, but Reno and Elena had demanded vacation time all around, and, surprisingly, gotten it. The entire Deepground conflict was finally over, and apparently even Rufus Shinra had felt the need to relax. Yuffie had had to be forcibly restrained from making jokes about sticks.

Yuffie had started talking up the bathhouse when they had first arrived three days ago, and didn't stop until she had extracted a promise from all of the women to go with her. It was one of her favorite places in Wutai, a large complex filled with hot mineral springs and small waterfalls of cold water. Its' whole purpose was for the pampering of the female sex. When Yuffie had finally mentioned massages by very considerate and attractive Wutaian men, she received no more hesitant behavior about the trip. Except on Cid's part. He didn't like the idea of Shera being "man-handled in some damned inappropriate ways." The protest and curse had gotten him nothing save another gil in the swear jar.

While Yuffie had intended to get the attention of her girl-friends and expected to get the attention of the boys, she had not anticipated the attention of one Cait Sith, whom Reeve was allowing to operate independently for the whole trip. The little robot had been, for the last year, subjected to Reeve's worrying about Yuffie and determined on his own that Reeve was interested in the woman. He was getting tired of the inaction on Reeve's part, and he was bored, so he had devised a plan to start a relationship between the two during their stay. Apparently, he had also determined that the best way to do this would be to shove them together, or failing that, follow Yuffie, filming her the entire time, and then showing the film to Reeve. The little robot had accordingly planned to follow the girls to the bathhouse.

So far, Cait's "best way" was giving way to his "plan B," as Reeve was spending the entire trip asleep, so Cait couldn't force them together. He had therefore started filming Yuffie. He had captured every second of her day save when she was in the bathroom, as he couldn't manage to sneak in without being obvious. He didn't want to reveal his plan until Reeve saw the tapes and realized how madly in love with Yuffie he was and told her so. Thus, in the course of following Yuffie, he learned of the planned expedition and was more than ready.

"Hey, girls, let's go! Come on!" was the next vocal Cait got on his tape, and it was also his cue to be ready to follow without being seen.

"We're coming, Yuffie, just give us a minute," Elena said, appearing at the end of the hallway. "What do we need to bring, anything special?"

"Nope!" Yuffie said, grinning like a loon and jumping down the stairs. "Just ourselves and our purses. We're going shopping beforehand, remember?"

"We don't need swimming suits?" Shera asked, she and Tifa joining the group.

"Nope. They've got everything you need there. Besides, for the most part, all the clothing we'll have is a robe. You go into the springs naked."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, naked? What's this I hear about naked?"

"Nothing, Reno, go away. This is girls only! But if you'd like to prove that you've been exaggerating all these years, you're welcome to join us," Elena shot back in a syrupy voice to the redhead who had stuck his head out of a doorway upon hearing one of his favorite words in conjunction with his four friends.

"Grow up, Reno!" Tifa added, rolling her eyes.

"What's this _I_ hear? You better not be thinking about my Shera naked, Turk!" Cid said, walking up behind the redhead with his arms crossed over his chest.

Reno's subsequent expression of fear and hasty disappearance generated a round of laughter from the girls and many hurried "Thanks!" as they took the opportunity to get started.

"You be careful, you hear! I don't want to hear about any hands in inappropriate spots or any damn googly-eyes made!" Cid shouted after them. This got him nothing but laughter and a sharp command from Shera to go and put another gil in the jar.

"He's doing better, though," Tifa told her.

"I know. But I figure that if I don't keep it up, he'll go right back to the cursing like he used to," Shera sighed.

"You're probably right. Hang a left here. I think it's a good idea, Shera," Yuffie said, walking backwards so she could walk, talk, and get there first at the same time.

Reaching the small line of shops, the girls started to browse, forcing Yuffie to turn around and walk properly.

They shopped for the next two hours. Among other various sundries, Shera bought a real Wutaian tea set, Tifa bought herself a colorful printed piece of fabric, intending to make a new skirt, Yuffie bought an unusual bubble bath scent that no one else liked but she insisted smelled divine, and Elena bought a large, pink, blown glass jar.

Yuffie raised an eyebrow and tilted her head, peering at the jar. "Elena, what on the planet is that for?"

Elena smirked. "A swear jar. For Reno."

Amidst the raucous laughter that rang out, she added "And Tseng. And Rufus."

These revelations only caused the others to laugh harder.

"Wait, wait, they swear? I thought they were far too 'refined' to swear, especially Rufus," Yuffie said excitedly.

Elena grinned. There was a slight malicious tinge to it. "Oh, they swear. Actually, when they do, they make Reno look tame. Tseng and Rufus know some really _vile_ swear words. Some of the stuff they say I don't think is even anatomically possible."

"Oh, my," Shera said, blanching slightly. Tifa's eyes got wider.

Yuffie started laughing again. "Here, come on, let's go this way. We'll go to the springs and relax. Elena, by any chance, is this one of the things they say?" Motioning her companions towards a well-traveled path off to their right, Yuffie stretched up and whispered something in Elena's ear.

The Turk's mouth dropped open. "How'd you know that?"

Yuffie turned around to walk backwards again and chuckled. "It's a Wutaian curse. I win fifty gil. I bet Cid that Tseng taught Rufus how to swear."

Shera groaned good-naturedly.

Tifa snickered. "I want to know what you said, Yuffie."

Yuffie grinned at her. "Sure. Once we're soaking. That's a pretty nasty curse and I don't want to say it out here. It'd get us slapped by some old lady. It's more private at the bathhouse." Her face took on a thoughtful cast. "Though, I didn't think that Tseng would _translate_ it for him!"

Cait Sith was slightly bored. He'd been sneaking around, recording Yuffie for two hours, and they were only now heading to the bathhouse. He had to recharge in another three hours. Though, the information about Tseng and Rufus did make the walking around kind of worth it. He supposed it could be used as blackmail at some point.

Rounding a corner and darting under a nearby bush, Cait saw Yuffie and the other women go into a large building painted brown and faced with raw stone. It was really quite impressive. And fortunately, the door was open. Unfortunately, so were the surroundings. If Cait wanted to spy, he wouldn't be able to get in here. It would be too obvious. It was times like this that he wished he could grimace.

Satisfied that he was alone, Cait left the cover of the bushes and headed towards the building, deciding to abandon all hope of a frontal assault and focus on a rear attack. He'd done some research on the bathhouse his creator's love was currently in, and it had apparently been built over a group of hot springs. The rear of the building was relatively deserted, used only for kitchens and maintenance rooms. Cait was hoping to find an air vent.

It took him five minutes to reach the back of the building. It annoyed him, as he still had to get in and find Yuffie. But, he thought as he surveyed the building, he might just get lucky. There was an open ventilation duct, and no one in sight. Cait risked a satisfied whistle as he clambered up into the vent. It was fortunately on a slope, so he was able to get into the main part of the building without poking any holes into the metal with his claws. Now all he had left to do was find Yuffie.

Another five minutes later, Cait grinned as he heard her loud voice. This would be the one time when he would bless her for that. Mentally pulling up the layout of the building he had downloaded the night before, Cait did a quick aural analysis and determined that Yuffie was in a room twenty meters to his left. However, in order to reach that room, he had to go ten meters backwards and then over. He'd overshot the junction.

The closer Cait got, the clearer he could hear everyone.

"Isn't this place great?" Yuffie asked.

"Hm, it is. I love it. It's so nice to relax," Shera said.

"Yeah, it's nice to get out with the girls. Working with all that testosterone gets to be a major drag."

"Tell me about it Elena. Until Yuffie came with us, it was just me and Aeris. And all those guys," Tifa said, her voice sounding slightly muffled. Cait wondered what she was doing. "Too much testosterone can be a pain in the neck. I nearly killed some of them."

"Hm, I nearly kill mine every day."

The women finally came into view accompanied by laughter. They were seated in a small room outfitted with two dressing tables and four low chaise lounges, each adorned with a large, white fluffy robe. Cait's mental processes froze for a moment. He ran a quick reanalysis of the probability of his plan being a good idea. He decided, in the end, that if Reeve saw all this footage of Yuffie naked, it would do nothing but further his cause. The others were of no consequence, really.

Yuffie slipped on her robe and stretched. "So, ladies," she said, grinning. "Ready to go and soak away all our troubles?"

Tifa stood and donned her robe. "You bet. And then, I want to see one of those 'considerate and attractive' masseurs you were telling us about, Yuffs!"

Shera snickered. "Sure, Tifa. I think I'll stick to soaking, though."

"Be my guest. I, however, want to get kneaded like a lump of dough. It'll be nice to get rid of all these little knots. I named them, you know," Elena said conversationally as they all headed to the door.

"Named them? Do I dare ask, Elena?" Tifa said, closing the door behind them.

Elena smirked. "Yeah. This one here, this nice knot at the base of my neck, is named 'Reno,' and there's this one right at the base of my spine I like to call 'Rufus.'"

Yuffie nearly fell over laughing.

Cait added it to his list of things to be used as blackmail, and followed the women from the safety of the air vent. Everything was working out perfectly. He had a great view, footage, and the prospect of learning some new curse words. Nothing could go wrong.

"Oh, Yuffs, this was a brilliant idea," Tifa said, leaning back on a rock outcropping, eyes closed, and sinking down so that the only thing above the water was her head.

"Now do you see why I wanted to come?" Yuffie asked with a lazy grin.

"Absolutely. This place is beautiful. You can even see outside, look up. All of the vents are arranged around those little openings. This place must be gorgeous at night, all of the stars," Shera said, leaning back until she was nearly floating.

Elena was nearly asleep.

"You know, they do reserve these little pools for use by couples at night," Yuffie offered, a sly edge to her voice.

Cait's ears perked to attention. There was another good idea! He shifted slightly to get a better angle for the video. He had to highlight Yuffie's best features.

"Really now?" Shera asked.

"Yup."

"What's that?" Elena asked, jerking awake and sitting up.

"What's what?" Yuffie asked. "You were nearly asleep."

"No, I heard something. Clear as day. Above us. Like a creaking," Elena said, craning her neck upwards.

Cait started to panic.

"Hm. I didn't hear, wait, wait, that noise?" Tifa asked.

"Yes, that."

"Okay, I hear it, too," Shera said.

Yuffie frowned. "Yeah, yeah, I hear it. It's probable just the vents, though. I think they were talking about replacing one of the outside air units. We're probably hearing the noise carry in from outside."

That was the last thing anyone said. After that, there were only screams, as Cait Sith fell out of his perch in the ventilation ducts, right in the pool, in the middle of four very undressed, very upset women.

--

A knock on the door roused Yuffie from her memories.

"Yuffie? Dinner's ready," Reeve called. "Are you okay? You've been in there for an hour."

Yuffie chuckled. She'd been so lost in thought she hadn't even realized that her bath water had gotten cold.

"I'm fine, Reeve. I was just soaking in my bubbles and thinking about that time in the bathhouse in Wutai."

Reeve laughed, but Yuffie heard Cait moan. "Lassie, will you ever give it up, please! It was two years ago! Just let it rest!"

Yuffie laughed again and stood up, reaching for her towel. "Oh, I'll never give it up Cait," she answered. "That's a story I'm going to tell to my _grandchildren_."

The poor robot just groaned, and Yuffie heard a thump where his head hit the wall.

Reeve laughed harder. Yuffie opened the bathroom door and stuck her head out. Cait quickly looked the other way.

"I still love you, you little stuffed doll, you know that, right?" she asked. Cait made some noncommittal sound that made Yuffie and Reeve grin fondly at him.

"Just let me get dressed and I'll be out, okay, hon?" she asked, reaching up to give Reeve a kiss.

He smiled at her and kissed her forehead before bending down to pick up a sulking Cait Sith. "Of course. I'll see you in a minute. And don't forget," he said with a sly grin. "You have to tell me all about your plans for Rufus' love life.

Yuffie cackled and shut the door.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Wow. I'm not dead. -sigh- This chapter has been a pain in the rear end to write. I'm not thrilled. It just wouldn't come out any other way, though. The beginning is a setup for another spinoff set of little fics I may or may not write. Let me know if you're interested.

I hereby dedicate it to all my friends over on the Viva La Reefie forum. You should go and check it out if you aren't already part and parcel of the insanity. Specifically, thanks for this chapter go out to Leo, for getting me motivated again, Mari, for listening to me rant this afternoon, and Paddy and Li for hugs when I needed them. Thanks guys, you're awesome!

Thanks do _not_ go to my muses. If Yuffie would quit being so afraid of Genesis I would have gotten this written earlier. She's currently hiding in a corner, and glaring is doing nothing to get Genesis to leave me alone. If you'll all excuse me, I have muses to yell at before I write the last chapter by the 20th. That one I can promise on time! Hopefully tomorrow.

Disclaimer: I do not own FFVII or any derivative thereof. Square Enix owns it all, no matter how much I complain about it.

* * *

Yuffie stuck her head around the corner into the kitchen. "Reeve? Is that oden I smell?" she asked, a grin fighting to form on her face.

Reeve looked up from the pot he was stirring. "Yes, it is. And tonjiru, too."

The grin won its' way onto Yuffie's face. She bounced into the room and threw her arms around Reeve. "You made my favorites! I love you."

Reeve laughed outright, reaching one arm behind him to give her a squeeze. "Well, I would hope so. I figured that, even though you were just in Wutai, you might like a welcome-back dinner full of your favorite foods."

Yuffie snuggled into Reeve's back. "Well, mister, you thought right." Raising her head, she stretched on her toes as far as she could to try and peer over his shoulder. "And the fact that you cooked it means you've been paying attention when I cook. I think I'll have to start drilling the recipes for a few more of my favorite foods into your head."

Reeve, who had angled his shoulder so she couldn't see, no matter how high she stretched, turned around and caught her around the waist. "I wouldn't mind. It gives me more time with you, and you _know_ how much I love paying attention to you." This comment he punctuated with a kiss, which was punctuated by a groan from the direction of the refrigerator.

Yuffie broke the kiss and rolled her eyes. Reeve shot his child an irritated glare. "Cait." The cat grumbled in response, which made Yuffie laugh.

"Can you imagine what he'll be like when we have our own kids?"

Cait wailed. Yuffie disengaged herself from Reeve's arms and walked over to the little robot, scooping him up like a baby. "Poor Cait Sith. We'll still love you! You'll always be our little catbot," she said, resting her head on Cait's and rubbing his back.

"I'm not jealous, lass, let go of me! I just don't want to see the two of you getting any more affectionate than ye already are! Especially when ye don't lock the doors," Cait said, wriggling out of Yuffie's arms and shuddering. "Now, as ye're undoubtedly bound to get even more affectionate this evening, I'll just go and finish recharging. In the study."

Reeve chuckled and cast Cait a fond look before grabbing Yuffie and kissing her again. "Why don't you go into the dining room and I'll bring dinner out?"

"You don't want any help?" she asked, looking up at him.

Reeve shook his head. "No, this is your first night back home. I'll take care of it."

Yuffie smiled at him and gave him another quick kiss before walking into the dining room. Sitting down at the table, she arched her arms over her head and stretched. It felt very good to be home. And she liked her pajamas better than her kimonos. The material was softer and they smelled like Reeve. They _were_ his clothes, after all.

Reeve walked in with steaming dishes and laughed softly at Yuffie, sprawled out in the chair with her arms flopped over the back, looking completely rested and half asleep. "Hungry?"

Yuffie was sitting up straight in an instant. "Absolutely!"

Over the next fifteen minutes, not much was said as a good half of their dinner was consumed. Then, what conversation there was picked up and turned first to Wutai, then over to Reno, who had been under Reeve's care for the past three weeks, being badly in need of repair and a systems upgrade, and finally to the current state of affairs at the WRO.

"And finally," Reeve complained, "the crowning moment, which you caught today, when he decided to call all of us in for another meeting!"

Yuffie finished off her tonjiru and sat back, smirking. "I did tell you I had plans for him, didn't I?"

Reeve's answering grin was one of the wickedest she had ever seen on him. "Yes," he said, drawing out the word. "Yes, I do believe I recall that. I wanted you to tell me all about it after your bath. You were going to set him up on a date?"

"Yep. Now, at first, I thought about making him suffer. You know, set him up on a bunch of horrible blind dates. But, after listening to what our dear Rufus has been up to for the past three weeks, it strikes me that he would do nothing but cause us more trouble if we took that route." By this point, Yuffie had her hands steepled in front of her chin, tapping her fingers together, and her voice had taken on a slow, decidedly evil, scheming tone. Reeve was still grinning, sitting back in his own chair, a glass of wine dangling from one hand, thoroughly enjoying his wife's antics.

"So I thought," Yuffie continued, "that it might be to our best interests to actually set him up with someone decent, someone he might be interested in if we give it enough time."

"That would definitely keep him out of our hair. Who did you have in mind, my dear, conniving wife?"

"Now, now, conniving is too strong, I think," Yuffie drawled lazily. "I'm not doing anything illegal here, and if they get up to anything immoral it's entirely their business."

Reeve laughed, nearly choking on a mouthful of wine.

"The person I had in mind, is my friend Hannah."

Reeve furrowed his brow. "Hannah. Hannah. Wait, oh, isn't she the girl from Rocket Town? Our liaison with Cid's space program?"

Yuffie nodded. "Yep. Nice girl, too. Been with Cid for years. Smart, cute, not likely to go all ga-ga over Rufus. She thinks he's cute, but too stuck up. She'll be perfect."

Reeve burst out laughing. "She is perfect! When do you intend to set out devious plan into motion?"

"Devious! That's what I am. Yes, devious," Yuffie said, snapping her fingers. "I was thinking tomorrow. I just can't figure out where to get them to go."

"Hm. What about that place I took you to on our first date?"

Yuffie's eyes lit up. "Rachel's! That place with that decadent flambéed cheesecake! You're a genius, Reeve."

"Why thank you. And speaking of flambéed cheesecake," he said, getting up.

"You didn't."

"Why, yes, I did. Made it myself, too," Reeve said, winking at Yuffie as her mouth dropped open. "Now you just stay right there. I won't be five minutes."

"I love you. I really do. You know that right?" Yuffie called as he went back into the kitchen.

She heard him chuckle. "I do. And I love you too, Yuffie."

She sat back with a silly grin on her face. Yes, he loved her. She knew that. Why else would he make her flambéed cheesecake? Yuffie closed her eyes and sighed. That had been the perfect date...

--

Yuffie started to panic five minutes after the door closed on Reeve.

"Ohmygodsohmygodsohmygods! I agreed to go on a date with my boss! Oh sweet Holy!"

"Yuffie, calm down," Tifa said, reaching an arm out to try and contain the ninja, who was spinning around with her hands on her head. Before she could grab her, however, she stopped on her own accord.

"What am I gonna wear?"

"What?" Elena asked.

"What am I gonna wear? I can't wear this on a date - "

"I dunno, that looks pretty good to me," Reno said, shooting a leering glance at Yuffie's usual ninja outfit. Three hands, belonging to Tseng, Rude, and Elena, immediately connected with his head for his trouble. "Owwwwwwww! Come on!"

"Thanks guys," Yuffie said. "As I was saying, Turk, I can't wear this and I can't wear a dress, that won't work for, well, work, and I can't go to dressy since it's _work_, and I can't go too casual since I have no clue where he's going to take me and oh holy Leviathan, he's technically my _boss_!"

Reno whined and leaned against her leg, trying to offer his mistress some form of comfort. Yuffie picked the little dog up and began to cuddle him.

"Hmmm."

Yuffie turned to look at Tifa, whose eyes were narrowed and lips pursed. "What, Teef? Tell me you have something!"

"No, but I know you do. Remember that shopping trip we took in Wutai? After the bathhouse thing?" she grimaced. So did Yuffie and Elena. "Anyway, I think you bought this pretty green floral skirt? Do you still have it, or did you leave it in Wutai?"

Yuffie brightened and squeezed Reno. The dog yipped in surprise, and the human groaned. He was promptly hit again. "I do have it with me! Oh, sorry, Reno. That's perfect, Tifa. Not too casual, not too dressy, functional enough for work, you're a genius!" Yuffie skipped over to the barmaid and gave her a one-armed hug, taking care not to squish the little robot she held.

Tifa laughed. "No problem, Yuffs. Glad I could help."

Yuffie sighed expressively. "Yeah, me, too. Well, I'd better go. I've got to get some sleep if I want to be on the ball tomorrow. Bye!" She waved vigorously and sped out of the bar, trying to convince herself that she was running to cool herself off because it had been _so hot_ in the bar, and not to conceal her sudden flush of nervousness and excitement from her friends.

The next morning, Yuffie tripped all over herself and Reno as she tried to get ready for work. The poor dog had finally repaired to the kitchen counter in order to escape Yuffie's mad careening around the apartment. She knew, on one level, that it was technically a business date, as they were going to discuss Reno's programming, but one part of her couldn't help but remember that kiss, and how nice it had felt, and how much she wanted him to do it again - she slapped herself as her mind went off on a tangent full of Reeve and that sexy little look he had given her - she slapped herself again.

"Okay!" she said, hopping out of her room, lacing up her boots as she went. Reno made an odd noise. "What?" she asked, looking up at him, looking at her boots. "Hey, they go! And I like them! I'm not going all out for this thing, what if I have the wrong idea. Oh, gods, what if I have the wrong idea? Where's my keys, Reno?"

Reno yipped and nosed Yuffie's keys towards her. She paused in her frantic searching and smiled fondly at the little dog. "Thanks, buddy. You're my little doll, you know that? Come on," she sighed, picking him up. "Let's go. Don't let me make too much of a fool of myself, okay?"

Reno yipped again as they headed out the door.

Ten minutes to noon, Reeve knocked and stuck his head into Yuffie's office. "Hello, Yuffie. Ready for lunch?"

Yuffie jumped, trying to pretend that his sudden presence had startled her, when she had actually been on edge all morning. "Yep - " she cleared her throat, appalled at her voice's squeaky betrayal. "Yes, Reeve," she tried again, "I am."

"Wonderful!" he said, stepping fully into the room. "Shall we, then? I've turned Cait completely off and removed his batteries, so there's no worry there."

Yuffie laughed, suddenly feeling more at ease. She stood up and glanced at Reno. "Should I do the same with Reno? Or should I take him with us?"

Reeve came over to her and looked down at the little dog sitting in a bed by Yuffie's desk himself. "I would switch him off and leave him here. We are going to discuss him a bit, and if he's anything like Cait at all, he won't like to hear about the changes we may implement."

Yuffie nodded, the nervousness back once again. "Okay," she said, bending down to switch Reno off. "I'll be back, little guy." Reno yipped at her and butted his head into her hand as she switched him off.

"You love him a great deal, don't you, Yuffie?" Reeve asked, a look in his eyes that Yuffie couldn't identify.

Yuffie smiled, her mood swinging back to calm. She was starting to annoy herself. "Yeah, I love him. He's a sweetie."

Reeve smiled, the look intensifying, and offered his arm to her. "Shall we?"

They ended up outside of Rachel's, a posh little restaurant a few blocks from the WRO building, at a small table in a courtyard in front of the eatery. Yuffie liked it. It was cute and homey, not at all pretentious. And, thank Leviathan, just right for what she was wearing. They had ordered and were now waiting for their meal, sipping a bottle of wine.

"You look quite beautiful today, Yuffie."

She started, nervously brushing her hair behind her ear. _Did I just do that?_ "Ah, thank you, Reeve." _What do I say?!_ "Ah, you look nice today, too." _Nice? Nice, Kisaragi? Great job!_

Reeve smiled at her, so apparently all was not messed up. "Thank you, Yuffie. Now, what changes do you think we should make to Reno's programming?"

Yuffie mentally slumped over in her chair. Reno was solid ground she could deal with.

Over the next hour, their meals came and they discussed Reno's programming, the latest news from Wutai, their friends, and the current state of the WRO's affairs. The conversation was so engaging that they ended up walking right past the WRO on their way back from the little restaurant, and spent the rest of the afternoon at a park nearby, Reeve holding on to Yuffie the entire time, either her hand or her arm, and Yuffie leaning more and more into him as the day progressed.

By evening, they had taken to walking around again, having exhausted the topics of the Turks and their dubious behavior, the pros and cons of Cosmo Canyon as a vacation spot over Costa del Sol, and which alternate energy sources were most efficient. They were now discussing the odd relationship that had sprung up between Vincent and Shelke, whom they had seen at a distance at the park.

"It's just too weird, Reeve!" Yuffie said, leaning on him as they walked down the street, her arm wrapped around his. "I mean, not because she's an ex-Tsviet, or anything, but she still looks like she's well, what is she now, twelve? eleven? And she's not really her. She's got Lucrecia in her head. That's just too damn weird! There's no other way to describe it!"

"It is unusual. Though she may be latching on to him because of Lucrecia. Vincent is familiar," Reeve pointed out.

"Okay, I'll give you that. But what does she call him. She calls him Vincent Valentine, just like she calls everybody by their full name. That irritates me. Though, it was worth it to see Reno's reaction when she used his full name. I thought he was going to kill her. Or explode. But you'd think she'd call him Vincent if it was Lucrecia influencing her staying with him."

Reeve grinned down at her. She felt light-headed. "Why don't you ask her?"

"No way. No. Way. I refuse."

Reeve laughed. She started to feel dizzy. That look was back in his eyes.

"Uh, you know," she said, "it's really late. We should probably get dinner." _What on the planet is your problem? You were having a nice conversation, Kisaragi, and now you're getting nervous again!_

"That sounds like a wonderful idea, Yuffie. Well, look where we are. Right back where we started. Shall we eat at Rachel's again? We know the food's good.

Yuffie nodded, not trusting herself to speak. Reeve was right. The food was good at Rachel's. So good, in fact, that she could get her mind all wrapped up in it and not think about Reeve for a moment. _Yes! Must occupy my mind with food!_

Reeve steered her over to Rachel's and got them a table inside this time, as the air was turning chilly and neither one of them had brought a coat. They ordered and Yuffie immediately began to occupy herself with the dessert list.

"Hey, this sounds good." _Why am I talking? I thought I was going to keep my mind off Reeve, not talk to him. But this does sound good..._

"What is it?"

"Flambéed cheesecake."

Reeve's eyebrows went up. "That does sound good. Though I've never heard of it before."

Yuffie looked up and shot him a grin. "We'll have to try it." _What am I DOING?_

The evening progressed and Reeve and Yuffie ended up closing Rachel's. They sat for three hours over the flambéed cheesecake, which was very good, completely oblivious to reason for the snickers and knowing glances from the waitresses. After they got politely kicked out, they headed to Tifa's out of habit, merrily discussing the pros and cons of Wutaian and Continental literature along the way.

"There was someone in SOLDIER that was obsessed with that play. I couldn't understand the fascination myself," Reeve said, wrapping his arm more tightly around Yuffie to ward off the chill.

"I've read it and seen it, both once. I think it's confusing. There's this one group of people I know of that thinks it's prophetic," she replied, snuggling closer to Reeve's warmth.

"Prophetic? Now there's a new one."

Once inside Tifa's, they made their way to a table in the back, never ceasing their conversation. They were brought back to their surroundings by a loud yelp from Reno, who was rubbing his head and glaring at Elena.

"Oh, hi, guys," Yuffie said brightly. "Tifa, can I get a screwdriver and a glass of water? I'm dying of thirst. Reeve and I have been talking all day!"

Tifa smiled. "Sure you can. Reeve, anything for you?"

"Actually, what Yuffie's having sounds good."

"Sure."

They ended up closing Tifa's down, too. She kicked them out with a laugh and a wink at Reeve, which Yuffie couldn't quite figure out the meaning of, but she wasn't sure if that was because she just refused to think about what it might mean.

They wandered around Edge for another hour, and when the sun had started to come up, they ended up outside of Yuffie's apartment, and when the conversation died down and plans were made to have lunch again later that day, Yuffie leaned back against her door and looked at Reeve and that look in his eyes, and met him halfway when he bent his head to kiss her.

--

Yuffie was brought out of her reverie by Reeve's chuckling.

"This is the third time tonight that I've found you in a daze. What were you remembering this time?"

She smiled up at him and the flaming cheesecake he held. "You and that cheesecake and our first date. I think Rachel's is the perfect place for those. We should go there tomorrow. Now put that down, give me a kiss, and then cut me a slice," she said, holding out her arms.

Reeve was only too happy to comply.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: **Two updates in two days. If you have not read Chapter 3, please do so now.**

Okay, now that that's over with, here it is, the penultimate chapter of my Reefie epic. Or story. Whatever you want to call it. I warn you, you may need tissues; I made myself cry. Thanks once again go to the fine people at the Viva La Reefie forum. Here's my challenge entry, guys! Thanks also go to my muses, as they cooperated this time.

Disclaimer: I do not own FFVII. Square Enix does.

* * *

Yuffie lay snuggled up to Reeve on the couch, a photo album open on his lap and the remains of the cheesecake on the coffee table. The photo on Reeve's desk of the two of them after their first date spurred her to want to look at more old pictures.

"Oh, look at this one!" she said. "Remember this? The copier had just exploded." The photo was of her and Reeve, both multicolored and bedraggled.

Reeve rolled his eyes. "How could I forget? I was covered in blue ink for days."

Yuffie giggled. "That was funny. I kind of liked you blue, though."

Reeve leered at his wife. "And you looked absolutely lovely that nice shade of pink, Yuffie my dear. No one could see you blush."

Yuffie smacked him, and blushed. "You, you, you pest! That was embarrassing!"

Reeve laughed and pulled her closer. "Oh, come on, Yuffie, you know you love me."

"That's beside the point, of course I love you. But I did not love you taking advantage of my pinkness!"

Reeve only laughed harder. Yuffie tried to glare at him, but only ended up laughing along with him, as she recalled that when Reeve had been blue, the cameras hadn't distinguished him from the blue-screens, and he therefore hadn't shown up on any of the video they'd had to shoot that week. _That_ had been funny.

"Okay! Moving on!" Yuffie said, finally calming down and flipping the page.

"Ah, this one," Reeve said, his voice taking on a tone of nostalgia. It was a picture of the two of them at Tifa and Cloud's wedding. They were dancing, and Marlene had decided to take a picture of them for Yuffie's birthday. The photo had summarily been copied and resided not only in the album, but also on Yuffie's desk at the WRO.

"Oh, yeah, I love that one. Look at us! We were so oblivious to everything else in the room." Yuffie's face took on a thoughtful air. "Though, now that I think about it, that's kind of pathetic."

"It's not half as bad as Cid and Shera were at our wedding," Reeve said, turning the page himself.

"Yeah, you're right. They were totally absorbed in each other," Yuffie said, looking down at the photos on the current page. "And speaking of our wedding," she added, a goofy smile blossoming on her face as she stared at the album. Reeve's face mirrored hers as he recognized that all the photos on the page were of their wedding ceremony, and Yuffie's head dropped down on his shoulder.

--

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH! Cait! What on the planet are you doing in here? Get out! Get out!" Yuffie shrieked at the hapless robot, holding her dress up to cover herself as the cat poked his head out of the heating vent in the floor.

Cait crawled the rest of the way out of the vent, eyes closed, and held his hands above his head. "Wait, lass, ye have to help me! Please, he's driving us all insane!"

Tifa paused with her hand on the nape of Cait's neck and looked at Yuffie, eyebrows up, silently inquiring what was to be done. Reno was barking at Cait.

Yuffie took advantage of Cait's closed eyes and dropped the dress, grabbing the robe Shera held out for her. She motioned to Elena to drop the gun she had automatically trained on Cait when she had screamed, and for Reno to be quiet.

Nodding at Tifa, Yuffie spoke to Cait. "What do you mean, I have to help you? And you can open your eyes now. What is it with you and air vents?"

Cait opened his eyes and looked at Yuffie, his expression taking on as much of a pleading cast as he could manage. "The vents are convenient. And it's ye're husband, lass. Or well, ye're husband-to-be. He's driving all of us insane!"

"You said that already, Cait," Tifa said, looking down at him, eyebrows still raised and her arms now crossed.

He turned his gaze to her and then every other female in the room as he spoke. "He's panicking! Reeve thinks that ye're going to pull out of the wedding, lass! He's paranoid and frantic and Cid says he's insecure, well, that's the edited version - " Shera groaned - "and he's driving us all crazy. Tseng had to keep Rufus from shooting him. Ye have to _do_ something!"

Yuffie stood there, blinking at Cait, for a good thirty seconds before bursting into laughter. "This is some kind of joke, right, Cait? _Reeve_ thinks I'm going to back out of the wedding? The wedding we've planned for months, during which _I've_ freaked out, but he's remained completely cool? Reeve, calm, collected, totally self-confident _Reeve_ thinks I'm going to leave him at the altar? Funny joke, Cait, but I'm not buying it. Girls?" Yuffie said, looking around at her companions for their opinions. They all shook their heads at Cait, save for Marlene, who scrunched up her face.

"What does 'leave at the altar' mean?" she asked Tifa, pulling on the skirt of the older woman's dress.

"It means that Yuffie would call off the wedding at the last minute and not marry Reeve, honey."

"Oh," Marlene's face took on an indignant cast. "Mr. Cait, Auntie Yuffie would never do that!"

The catbot sighed. "I know that lass, but Reeve doesn't. I thought you wouldn't believe me, so when Cloud and Vincent told me to go and talk to ye about this, lassie, I started to videotape him. Elena, do ye have your computer with ye?"

"Yes," Elena nodded, turning around to reach for the laptop resting on a sideboard.

"Wait wait wait," Yuffie broke in, one hand covering her face and one stretched out in Cait's general direction. "You have proof? Video proof? Sweet Leviathan, you're serious, aren't you?" she said, peeking at Cait from the spaces between her fingers.

Cait only looked at her and nodded.

Yuffie groaned. "Plug him in, Elena. What is Reeve's problem?" she asked the room at large, bending down to pick up Reno.

"Pre-wedding jitters, most likely," Shera said, sitting Yuffie down and sticking her hands in her hair, beginning to weave the strands between her fingers. Yuffie had fallen in love with a braided twist for her wedding hairstyle, and had been forced to grow her hair out a few inches for Shera to make a copy of the look.

Elena finished plugging Cait into her computer, and clicked a button to start the playback from his internal memory. With a soft whir, the video started on the screen, and all the women made sure they could see what Cait had captured.

"You'll see," he said. "Just wait." He was summarily hushed.

_"Well? What are you waiting for? Go and get Yuffie!" _Cloud's voice came over the audio.

_"Wait a moment, laddie. I'm going to videotape some of this." _That was Cait.

_"Why? He's driving us nuts __now! Did you miss Rufus trying to shoot him?" _Cloud whispered.

_"This is Reeve," _Cait whispered back._ "I have to have proof that he's lost it." _The picture blurred for a moment, refocusing on a man pacing up and down the length of the room.

_"He's right, Cloud." _Vincent._ "Yuffie will never believe that Reeve thinks she's not going to marry him. Now be quiet, and let him tape this."_

Cait moved closer to Reeve, and what the man was muttering became clearer.

_"-too old. She's young and beautiful and she wouldn't want me! I'm too old and too guilty and too obsessed and she's a princess! What do I have to offer her?"_

_"Reeve, wait a moment," _Tseng said, stepping from behind Cait into Reeve's path and grabbing the man by the shoulders. Reeve's face was panicked. Tseng gave him a little shake._ "Think about this, Reeve. This is Yuffie. She loves you. We all know that. She told you not three hours ago. She had made up her mind and she does not change her decisions easily. You know that."_

_"But-"_

Reno cut him off._ "For the love of holy, yo! You're driving us all nuts here! Yuffie loves ya and she's not going to stand you up, okay?" _He shook his head, fingers twitching towards his EMR.

_"But-"_

_"Man, Reeve, if I hear the word 'but' come out of your # mouth one more time, you don't &#& want to know what I'm gonna do to you. Think about this. If Shera, mild-mannered, sweet Shera, could marry me, then why wouldn't Yuffie marry you?" _Cid asked, leaning against the wall. As Reeve contemplated that statement, Rude held out Shera's swear jar. Cid cursed again, glared at Rude, and dropped in three gil.

_"B- Well, Yuffie's a __princess! I used to work for __Shinra!" _Reeve pulled away from Tseng and started pacing again, his hands flying about in the air.

_"Thank you, Reeve," _Rufus' dry voice interjected.

_"And I'm eighteen years older than she is!"_

Cait's camera shuddered and Vincent's whisper came over the speakers._ "I think that's enough, Cait. Go show this to Yuffie and tell her to come and fix this."_

The camera nodded, and then cut off.

"You see?" Cait asked the women staring at the screen.

"Oh! He is so stupid!" Yuffie exclaimed, standing up suddenly, dislodging Shera's still hands from her hair. "I'm going to go give him a piece of my mind," she said, putting Reno down and picking up Cait. Elena barely had time to disconnect him before Yuffie was heading out the door.

The sight that greeted Yuffie when she forcefully opened the door to the room the men were using was much the same as the video Cait had shown her. The Turks and Rufus were leaning against the wall, with the exception of Tseng, who was trying to calm down a pacing Reeve. Cid was occupying Tseng's spot on the wall. Barret and Cloud were sitting on the couch, their heads in their hands. Vincent was pinching the bridge of his nose. And Denzel was the first to react.

"Oh, thank Holy!"

"Reeve Tuesti!" Yuffie said, marching over to her fiance and holding Cait under his nose. "Do you know what Cait Sith just showed me? He showed me you, Reeve, you being the most stupid, idiotic moron I have ever seen! What do you mean, I won't marry you?" Reeve just stared at her. Yuffie was not finished. "Does it look like I care that you worked for Shinra? I hate my father! I think that pretty much sums up your feelings towards the company? And so what if you're eighteen years older than me? Does it look like that matters to me? Or else I wouldn't be standing here, yelling your ears off, ready to go and put on a wedding dress! To marry you. Did you understand all of that?"

No one said anything. Reeve opened his mouth, and Cait took the opportunity to escape Yuffie's grasp.

"B- Well, Yuffie-" Reeve began.

Yuffie let out a scream of frustration before grabbing Reeve by the lapels of his jacket and tugging him down to her level, kissing him thoroughly. Reeve stood there in shock for a moment, before wrapping his arms around her and returning the kiss. They only broke it when Reno's catcalls, and then screams of pain, registered in their minds.

Yuffie rested her head on Reeve's chest, her breathing a little heavy. "Convinced now?"

Reeve nodded. "Thank you," he said, his arms still firmly around her.

"Yes, thank you, Yuffie!" Cloud and Rufus chorused. They immediately glanced at each other.

Reno suddenly tore through the open door and danced around Yuffie's feet, a piece of what looked to be napkin in his mouth. She disengaged herself from Reeve's arms and scooped up the little dog, crooning "Good Reno, good Reno, bringing me things," while shooting the Turk of the same name a particularly evil smirk.

"Why me, yo, why me?"

"Let's see," Yuffie said, balancing Reno on one hip and unfolding the piece of paper. "'Yuffie, since we don't hear anything any more, we're assuming you have chastised Reeve as much as you're going to and that you're done making up. Now get back here so we can finish getting you ready!' Okay, then! Gotta go! Bye, guys!" Yuffie reached up, pecked Reeve on the cheek, and ran out the door, closing it behind her to a chorus of "goodbyes" and "thank yous."

This time, it was the door to her own dressing room she slammed open. "Okay, girls, all done! He is safe and secure and will not be panicking any more! He is the Reeve we all know and love once again! What?" she said, looking warily at the four women in the room staring at her.

"That's good, Yuffie. Now, come here! We have less than an hour!" Elena said, grabbing Yuffie and shoving her in the seat she had occupied before leaving to straighten Reeve's head.

Shera immediately stuck her hands in Yuffie's hair again. Tifa applied a makeup brush to her face, and Marlene grabbed her hand and started painting her nails. Yuffie realized that if toy dolls could feel, they felt like she did at the moment. The only one not pulling and painting her was Elena, who was occupied with last minute detail checks and making sure all the stitches on Yuffie's dress were tight. Yuffie tried to roll her eyes and received a slap on the wrist from Tifa, who was trying to put on Yuffie's mascara.

Forty-five minutes later, though, it was all worth it, as Yuffie stood in front of the floor-length mirror and looked at herself. Her hair was twisted back in braids, her nails were painted a light, subtle shade of green, and she looked like she wasn't wearing any makeup at all. She turned slightly to see the back of the dress, smiling at the sight of the thin green ribbons, the same shade as her nails, cascading from her hair down the white lace of the scoop-necked, slim-fitting dress she had had made to be a fusion of both Continental and Wutaian styles. Yuffie sighed, and then giggled in pure happiness. She spun around to face her friends, tossing her arms wide.

"Guess what, guys? I'm getting married!"

Everyone laughed, and Reno started yipping, feeding off his mistress' excitement. Elena declared that she was going to cry.

A knock sounded at the door, and everyone, including Yuffie, instantly became solemn and serious.

"Well, Yuffs, this is it. Ready?" Tifa asked.

Yuffie smiled and nodded, before walking over to the door.

Cid was on the other side. "Well, well, princess. Don't you look pretty," he said, smiling at her and motioning for her to spin around. "Just like a perfect little bride. Ready to go?"

Yuffie nodded again, smiling up at Cid and taking the pilot's arm, allowing him to lead her out into the hall.

Cid led Yuffie off to the side as the women walked past to their partners. "Nervous, kiddo?"

"No," Yuffie said, her voice sounding choked up. "Oh, I promised myself I wouldn't cry. I will not cry. I cried at Tifa's wedding and I cried at Shera's, and I will not cry here."

Cid chuckled quietly. "You go on and cry if you want to, princess. I cried at my own wedding. Now Barret, he's promised he won't cry."

Yuffie gave a watery laugh and took the handkerchief Cid held out to her. "He cried at Tifa's," she said, dabbing at her eyes.

"Which is why he said he won't cry at this one. Ten gil says he does?" Cid said, smiling down at her.

Yuffie smiled back. "You're on."

"Great, princess. Now, you just turn yourself around and face that door. It's our turn now."

Cid gently angled her towards the entrance to the main hall. Yuffie squared her shoulders and held her head high, concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other and keeping hold of her bouquet. As Cid led her down the aisle, all she could see was Reeve.

When they reached the altar, Cid relinquished her to Reeve, she gave her bouquet to Tifa, and the justice began to speak.

"We have gathered here on this fine afternoon to witness the marriage of Reeve Tuesti and Yuffie Kisaragi. These two fine people have chosen to be wed in the sight of the planet, their families, and their friends. In lieu of a traditional ceremony, the bride and groom have written their own vows. Reeve, would you begin?"

Reeve took Yuffie's hands in his and stared down at her, smiling all the while. "Yuffie, my dear, I love you with all of my heart, and I am both thankful and honored that you would choose me to be your mate for all of eternity. You have given me another purpose in life and kindled my love of life and the planet to even higher levels. I love you with my life and I will give anything to see you remain happy and safe. It is my privilege to become your husband."

Yuffie smiled up at Reeve, blinking back tears, even though she had promised herself that she wouldn't cry. "Reeve, I love you to pieces, and you know it, too. I will remind you again and again if I have to." She raised their clasped hands, kissing them and holding them a few inches from her lips. "I will never leave you or stop loving you, and I will always be there for you in every way possible. You have also given me purpose, and you have given me a new determination. I am blessed to have you by my side, and I thank Leviathan every day for the chance of our lives converging. It is my privilege, honor, and joy to become your wife."

As Cait held up the pillow with the rings, Elena burst out crying, and Barret surreptitiously wiped his eyes. Reeve and Yuffie simultaneously slipped the rings on each others' fingers, and as the justice pronounced them husband and wife, their lips met in their first kiss as a married couple.

--

Yuffie shook herself and pulled away from Reeve's side, smiling up at him through a thin mist of unshed tears. Reeve reached one hand up to rest on her cheek, drawing her close and leaning his forehead to hers.

"I love you, Yuffie Tuesti," was the last thing said before she kissed him, and there were no more words that needed to be said.

* * *

END


End file.
